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Online healthcare platforms see spike in growth during pandemic

Popular healthcare startup Practo has registered a 600% rise in its online consultations since the beginning of the lockdown
Popular healthcare startup Practo has registered a 600% rise in its online consultations since the beginning of the lockdown in mid-march, with 70% users being first-time online healthcare users and 45% hailing from smaller cities and towns.

Online health startups have seen a sharp spike in growth in the last few months due to the social distancing and lockdown restrictions imposed by the government. Consumers have shifted to online consultations, treatment, medical tests, and medicine delivery as a safer method of using conducting medical tests.

Healthcare startups are seeing a huge rise in demand and in funding activity, similar to the ed-tech segment that has seen a continuous rise in funding activity with startups like Byju’s seeing a rise in users.

Popular healthcare startup Practo (1) has registered a 600% rise in its online consultations since the beginning of the lockdown in mid-march, with 70% users being first-time online healthcare users and 45% hailing from smaller cities and towns.

Aryaman Tandon from Praxis Global Alliance said that health tech startups in e-health, remote healthcare, and online medical supplies space have seen high growth in the post-COVID world.

He further added that online pharmacies have played a crucial role during the crisis situation of delivering medicines to individuals while following social distancing measures.

Rise in online medical consulting

Mfine, a Bengaluru-based on-demand healthcare service, has witnessed a 3 to 4x growth in recent months. The company now has over 500 hospitals and over 3000 doctors on its platform, while adding over 250 hospitals in the last three months.

1mg, on the other hand, has seen a 70% rise in online doctor consultations and has seen approximately 10000 doctors showing interest in signing up to treat patients. The platform had only 150 doctors on its platform earlier.

Other online healthcare startups like Qure.ai and HealthQuad have also seen a rise in the usage of their services during the lockdown period, allowing its users to gain access to affordable and convenient healthcare services.

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